La Liga double header

KdjaCL

Valencia vs barca on now.

0-0 pool fans should watch barca trying to play tight, they doing ok dont think there has been a meaningful shot in the game. Gudjohnsen offside a bit and Messi on bench Etoo not in squad.

After that its thrill a minute Sevilla who will probably continue their poor form since the break vs Atletico Madrid. Torres and Aguillerro for Atletico are lethal and great to watch. Sevilla should start Maresca one of my favourite players


kdjac

KdjaCL

2 quick goals for valencia both sloppy defending by Barca.

Messi should be in in a minute.


kdjac

KdjaCL

Deco and Albeda sent off ,puyol booked small melee. Dave Jones be glad he not managing either of these



kdjac

bucks73

Plenty of incident in the second half after a brutal first half.

Mossy Monk

its all handbags though

KdjaCL

2-1 Ronaldinho free kick 2 mins left.


kdjac

KdjaCL

Sevilla have to win tonight, love watching these play. Both sides play excellent football.


kdjac

Mark

2-0 Sevilla, Alves with a goal and assist for Kanoute. Is there a better right-back in Europe?

Raskolnikov

What has happened to Barcelona? They completely controlled the game but ended up losing. Gudjohnsen is a decent player but completely unsuited to being the leading striker. Other than a couple of great free kicks, Ronaldinho magic is becoming rarer and rarer. Edmilson is completely untrustworthy in the holding midfield role, he's a definite weak link in the team. Now Eto'oo is throwing the toys out of the pram.

To be honest, Barcelona are there for the taking when they play Liverpool. Especially if Liverpool can attack them quickly through the wings.

Nunu

......and can someone explain to me why the in form (and all round good egg) Saviola was not brought off the bench. Baffling

Edmilson played centre half didn't he?

evad_lhorg

Mark wrote:

2-0 Sevilla, Alves with a goal and assist for Kanoute. Is there a better right-back in Europe?

Gary Neville

Vokes

Nunu wrote:

Edmilson played centre half didn't he?

Yup, and hopefully he'll be playing there too against the 'Pool

Mad Dog

evad_lhorg wrote:

Gary Neville

Rofflmao

kinaldo

Raskolnikov wrote:

What has happened to Barcelona? They completely controlled the game but ended up losing.

I missed the game unfortunately but the comments reminded me of Phil Ball's assertion of Valencia in his weekly column last week.

But maybe their instincts are just too pragmatic. Historically speaking, the problem is that the famous exponent of defensive tedium, Hector Cúper, was one of the managers who put Valencia back onto the map in the late 1990's, with some help from Claudio Ranieri too. Bénitez reaped the harvest, but he did it in a more attractive style (just). But it was ironic that in 2002 Cúper's Inter knocked Valencia out of the UEFA Cup, and the following season sent them tumbling from the Champions League in a display of cynicism worthy of an X-rating.

The present incumbent, Quique Sánchez Flores, seems to have caught the bug. Last week in a press conference, he was asked to comment on the team's tactics after their defeat of Atlético Madrid. Weren't they a little dull? Sánchez Flores shrugged. 'We decided to give them the ball,' he explained. 'Then when they ran out of ideas, we pounced'. I remember people hating Leeds United back in the 1970's because, like an irate pensioner in the garden, they never gave you the ball back; but the idea that the opposite approach can actually become the tactical game plan seems a bit odd - especially when you look at the all-round quality of the squad.

A slightly more generous interpretation of this issue came from one Spanish journalist this week who wrote that Valencia 'Spend the first twenty minutes or so just watching what their opponents can or can't do with the ball, then move in for the kill'. Which is exactly what they did against Getafe, only to miss two easy chances towards the end of the first half. After that, Getafe simply turned the tables on them after they'd scored their first - sitting back and inviting them forward then hitting them on the break. Touché! Valencia seemed to have no answer to a side playing it their way. They'd better be careful against Inter.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=408341&root=europe&cc=5739